NEWPORT, R.I. – In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Salve Regina University is remembering – and soliciting remembrances from the community-at-large – as part of a month-long project designed to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re heading.
In addition, the public is invited to join the Salve Regina community for a memorial vigil on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 7:45 p.m. Vigil participants will gather at Our Lady of Mercy Chapel and begin a candlelight procession at 7:45 p.m. to the Wakehurst rose garden, where a prayer service will be conducted.
For the month-long 9/11 project, organized by the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy, participants are invited to answer, in their own words, this question: “How has 9/11 touched your life?” There is no right or wrong answer; the project simply seeks to capture how the events of that day have shaped the world we live in and the lives we lead. To participate in the project, visit pellcenter.salvereginablogs.com.
“This project is an initiative of the Pell Center … to remember and to learn,” said Dr. Jim Ludes, executive director of the Pell Center. “Tell us where you were. Tell us what you felt. Share with us how your politics, your personal values and your relationships have changed since that day. We look forward to hearing from you.”
In addition to Ludes, Dr. Kahlil Habib, associate professor of philosophy and director of the Pell Honors Program, and David Smith, lecturer and director of the graduate program in administration of justice, have recorded videos offering their own reflections on 9/11. Those videos are available at pellcenter.salvereginablogs.com.
Smith says that today’s college youth have grown up under what he calls “the new normalcy,” a society where certain freedoms arguably have been curtailed to ensure greater security.
“We, as a society, have to imagine the unimaginable,” he recently told the Providence Journal. “Everything in justice has changed, from the way first responders react to the way we detain international terrorists. Some will say that these laws violate individual liberties. The bottom line is this nation has to respect that the world has changed since 9/11.”